The C&I Sandwich Shop that many of us remember from years ago, didn’t originate at its familiar location on West Main Street. It began when Clifford and Mary Bruner and their sister-in-law, Ila Algren opened a small café behind what is commonly referred to today as the old Galesburg Glass building. In 1946, they opened the Ferris Café, with Cliff working at the counter and tables, and Mary and Ila doing the cooking. Everything was homemade, and their chicken and noodles were a big draw on Saturdays. When Ila’s husband Chet came home from the war, he also began working at the Ferris Café after working at the local power company, and then the Hometown Lockers on the Public Square. After a time, the business was moved to West Main Street, and the name changed to the West Main Drive-in. But in 1958, Cliff and Mary decided to leave the restaurant business, and sold the drive-in to Chet and Ila. The couple eventually moved the little restaurant to 1160 W. Main St., changed the name, and C&I Sandwich Shop was born.

The C&I, named for Chet and Ila, had a small, but savory menu with many homemade delights, including hamburgers, cheeseburgers, barbecue and loose-meat sandwiches, fries, shakes, homemade coleslaw and potato salad. It was said that the food was so good that some hungry customers ate there every day, others once a week. All waiting patiently as their made-to-order meal was prepared. One former employee said the cheeseburgers “were to die for,” but the most famous item that everyone remembers to this day, were their heavenly tenderloin sandwiches. Each one was hand cut thin and lean by Ila, then pounded even thinner, hand dipped in the Algrens’ secret recipe of batter and breading and Chet would then deep fry them until they were a golden brown.

Over the years, word spread about the singularly wonderful pork sandwiches available at the eatery. They became so popular in fact that on Fridays during the 1960s and ’70s when the local factories were still in existence and going at full steam, Ila and Chet would begin making the tenderloins at 9 a.m.. The reason for this was to fill the standing orders from employees working at the big factories such as Admiral, Butler, Gale and Gates. The number of tenderloins made on Fridays varies from person to person and their memories, but it was said that 1,200 to 2,400 were prepared each Friday. After they were finished frying, they were topped with your choice of ketchup, mustard, pickles and freshly sliced onions, and then individually wrapped. The tenderloins were then packed in large insulated chests to keep them warm, and loaded into the Algrens’ big Buick automobile. When old enough, their son Duff delivered them to the factories at 11 a.m., noon and 1 p.m. for the workers’ different lunch shifts, along with case after case of pop for the hungry and anxiously waiting factory employees. But it wasn’t just factories that placed orders with C&I. Many smaller local businesses would call the constantly ringing phone to place an order as well, and then send an employee to pick up their order. But all C&I lunch orders, large and small, were not just “fast food” as we know it today, but were really home-cooked meals. Everything was made from scratch daily, with hundreds of onions being sliced each week for the potato salad, coleslaw, burgers and tenderloins. Chet and Ila were very particular about how the food was prepared, and even the shakes were homemade.

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Frying all of those tenderloins was extremely hot work, and Chet, who worked at the fryer all day, would go home after the lunch rush was over for a brief rest, come back at 4 p.m. with a set of fresh clothes on, grab a clean apron, and then start to work again. As hard as it was, it was said that Chet and Ila loved their work, and Ila was remembered as a friendly, warm hearted person, and Chet loved to chat with his customers as well, when he wasn’t in the back cooking.

The C&I became a local institution at 1160 W. Main St. and was in business from 1959 to 1976. Sadly, Chet passed away in 1977, and Ila followed him in 2003. But the building remained and was purchased in 1984 by Connie Gray. She called her new business, Gray’s C&I Sandwich Shop because of the C&I name recognition. In 1986, she changed the name to Gray’s Sandwich Shop, as it is still known today. Connie’s son Keith also worked at the restaurant and purchased the business from his mother in 2010 with his wife Kristina. You can still get tenderloins there along with several new items added to the familiar menu.

I have heard it said that in some of the states out west, California in particular, you can’t get tenderloins. In fact, many have never even heard of those delectable, deep fried pork sandwiches the size of a dinner plate. They have no idea what they’re missing.

I would like to thank Mary and Terry Bruner, Barry Algren and Keith Gray for all of their memories that were used in writing this article.

Patty Mosher is the archivist for the Galesburg Public Library and can be reached at 309-343-6118, ext. 107, or at pattym@galesburglibrary.org.